This invention relates to a system and method for tracking an item and, specifically, tracking an item by means of longwave, magnetic signal tagging.
Knowledge of the status of an item, such as its location, step in a production process, usage history, or completion level is valuable across a range of organizations. Shipping companies, supply chain management departments, retailers, manufacturers, toll collectors, access control providers, and asset management departments are all examples of organizations that employ systems to track the status of large number of items. Cemeteries charged with receiving, managing, laying to rest, and keeping records on large numbers of human remains also employ complex tracking systems.
Currently, organizations use a range of computerized and non-computerized systems to track items of interest. Most computerized systems affix either bar code tags or radio frequency identification (“RFID”) tags to the items of interest. Barcodes carry a unique number, which can be identified with an optical scanner. When used in tracking systems, optical scanners operate at points of interest to track the presence of tagged items. Often barcode systems function in reference to external circumstances being managed by a computer system that is connected to the optical scanners. RFID tags can emit radio frequency electromagnetic signals across a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum, from 120 kHz up to 10 GHz signals. These tags can carry encoded, unique data to identify the item to which they are affixed. Systems using RFID tags operate similarly to bar code systems, except they can carry more than a simple identification number and may often be read without line-of-sight. Non-computerized, “paper,” systems operate in many different ways but typically involve assigning a unique number to each item to be tracked and requiring that number to be recorded manually on documents each time the item is checked in or out of a step in a document tracking process.
A common application of non-computerized systems is human remains tracking. In a typical system, remains are discovered and circumstances of the discovery are summarized in a report. This data might include any identification documents found on the person, the location, time of day, and a general description of the body. The remains are then taken to another location such as a morgue where further analysis is conducted, such as reviewing dental records, skeletal extraction, or DNA testing, until a satisfactory identification is completed. This information is then typically compiled into a second report. Further analysis by a medical examiner is often performed to determine the cause of death. This generates a third report. Later the remains are usually transported to a coffin or casket and information is recorded on fourth report to track which remains are contained in which caskets. Finally the remains and casket are placed in the grave and a final report is created to track the identity of the individuals in each grave at the relevant cemetery.
There are several disadvantages of current computerized and non-computerized tracking systems. With respect to computerized tracking systems, the disadvantages stem from reliance on barcodes or RFID tags. Barcodes require line-of-sight because they must be read by either image-based or laser-based optical scanners. Optical scanners also have the disadvantage of a limited range. Typical laser scanners are ineffective at distances greater than two feet and image-based scanners have an even shorter range. Signals to and from RFID tags often cannot pass through water or metals because these substances block or reflect radio frequency waves. For the same reasons, RFID signals cannot pass through other human beings. With respect to non-computerized tracking systems, the disadvantages stem from extensive reliance on human actions to create, update, account for, and preserve the numerous paper reports that arise when tracking multi-step processes. At each step in a non-computerized system, human error can lead to the misspelling of a name, transposing of a number, misplacing of a report, or mistaken destruction of a document. Furthermore even if all records are properly created, there is the continuing manual burden of managing a growing body of physical records and accurately searching and identifying desired information.
Many of these disadvantages are apparent in current human remains tracking systems. At Arlington National Cemetery (“ANC”), efforts have been underway since at least 2004 to digitize the records of human remains buried at the cemetery and improve the overall chain of custody process. Unfortunately, implementation was delayed and the cemetery continued to rely on non-computerized records. In 2008 problems resulting from ANC's record-keeping system began to come to light, including multiple servicemen being buried in the same graves, servicemen being buried in unmarked graves, reburial of remains without notification, and incorrect headstones on tombs. A 2010 report from the Department of Defense, Inspector General found that grave markers were not placed soon enough after burial, records were not kept updated, and that long-term maintenance of records was, “sloppy.” An earlier 2009 report from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command indicated that cemetery officials were negligent in continuing to use a paper filing system instead of a computerized database to keep track of cemetery operations.
In situations like ANC, RFID or barcode systems might be a slight improvement over non-computerized systems but would still retain significant disadvantages. The primary disadvantage results from the environmental conditions surrounding remains at cemeteries. As stated above, RFID and barcode systems require either line-of-sight at a distance of less than two feet or a lack of interference from water or metals. In cemeteries like ANC, the graves are first lined with a concrete box or an entire concrete vault is built to house the casket, and the caskets themselves are often sealed metal containers. Once the graves are covered over, groundwater typically fills the concrete structures and suspends the metal caskets in an underground pool. In addition, spouses are often housed in the same grave sites and are buried one on top of the other. The factors of depth, concrete structures, water pools, metal caskets, and stacked remains combine to block, reflect or otherwise interfere with the optical or radio frequency signals of contemporary computerized systems and render them ineffective.